New details and descriptive walk-through of the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind' queue and pre-show

May 03, 2022 in "Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind"

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind concept art
Posted: Tuesday May 3, 2022 8:27am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The early Cast Member previews for "Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind" bypassed the queue and pre-show areas. However, in the last few days, Cast Members have been able to experience the entire attraction, including the pre-show, which we will share in this article.

NOTE that this article is full of spoilers. Stop reading now if you do not want to learn details of the "Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind" pre-show and story.

The Wonders of Xandar pavilion's first show scene takes place just inside the main entrance in the Galaxarium.

Galaxarium

The Galaxarium is a large planetarium-style space showcasing planets, stars, and other intergalactic wonders that connect Earth and Xandar. It takes the form of a large projection screen on the domed ceiling, with the queue space circling the room.

The Galaxarium projection show is a 30-minute loop, so there is a lot to see if you are in the queue area for a long time.

We hear from Worldmind, who tells us about Xandar, and shares a few back-and-forths with Peter Quill.

Leaving the Galaxarium via a ramp, the queue space moves into the second scene, the Xandar Gallery.

The Xandar Gallery

Here guests discover more about the Xandarian people, culture, and history – including the heroes of Xandar – through museum-like displays and projections.

Some of the exhibits include models of the Starblaster ship, Nova Corps uniforms, and a model of an urban center on the planet.

Most of the displays are digital projections, with the exception of the uniforms and models.

The queue moves past the exhibits and into a holding area where riders wait for a space in the Welcome Center pre-show.

Pre-show Scene 1 - Welcome Center

The pre-show experience is split into two distinct scenes.

The first pre-show scene is the Welcome Center, which takes place on Earth, and is the starting point for the Xandar Pavilion to demonstrate its advanced technologies.

Shot specifically for the ride by original Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director James Gunn, the pre-show lays out the story for Cosmic Rewind.

Nova Prime, played by Glenn Close, welcomes us and explains that we will be transported to a ship to see a demonstration of the cosmic generator, which creates shortcuts through space and time. We are also introduced to Centurion Tal Marik played by Terry Crews, who at this point tells us that no photography is allowed from this point forward. It seems that Disney is concerned about riders potentially dropping devices on the ride, and has chose to prohibit their use.

This first section of the pre-show lasts around 2.5 minutes.

Pre-Show Cene 2 - Teleportation Room

Guests leave the Welcome Center and move to the teleportation room where guests stand in a lighted circle on the floor. Visual effects on the ceiling accompany the teleportation process. The room goes dark, and the teleportation successfully puts us onto the ship. This effect is achieved with something similar to the finale of Journey into Imagination, where walls move to shift us from one apparent space to another instantly.

We see the cosmic generator on arrival at the ship, which suddenly disappears.

Nova Prime and Tal Marik contact the Guardians in a chaotic scene, which we then see on-screen via remote transmission.

Eson, the villain in the story, arrives on the scene and declares that all humans need to be wiped off the planet, and he is planning to use the cosmic generator to travel back in time to eradicate humans.

Rocket has a plan, and tells us to board an escape shuttle to follow Eson until the Guardians of the Galaxy arrive on the scene to save humanity.

The second pre-show section in the teleportation room lasts approximately three minutes.

Leaving the second pre-show room, we enter more queue space and move towards the load area for the ride section of the attraction to begin.

You can read more about the actual on-ride rollercoaster experience in our previous sneak peek article.

Annual Passholder previews will take place for those already registered on May 8, 9, 10, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21.

Disney Vacation Club previews will take place on May 9 and 18.

Club 33 previews are on May 7, and D23 previews are on May 15 2022.

"Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind" officially opens to guests on May 27 2022.

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Hawkeye_2018Apr 04, 2023

Do they sell Guardians related food or beer near the attraction?

gerararApr 01, 2023

Moon.

Epcot82GuyMar 31, 2023

How I wish. That concentration of heat and energy would physically melt both attractions... But, that's just me... 😁

MaximumEdMar 31, 2023

Pretty sure they are actual stars harvested from deep in the galaxy, thus explaining the price tag for the attraction.

XenoYoshMar 31, 2023

Hi from Paris ! With the refurbishment of Avengers Flight Force at WDSP, I'm wondering about the stars inside Cosmic Rewind. How does it work ? Is it lasers projectors ? Flight Force is very dark and we hope some stars like Cosmic Rewind 😅

TomboyJanetMar 07, 2023

I'm replying to myself in the past lol not all of it is bad mission space stuff is good as Centauri space stations name made me immediately reconsider also test track you ok too and sorin etc

Vegas Disney FanMar 06, 2023

Hadn’t really thought about it til this thread but I agree, this ride would have been far better as a mission to mars style ride with the launch being the blast off. Preshow could have been a history of space travel exhibit rather than a made up Zander exhibit. It would have fit the edutainment of Epcot better and been a better story with just a few changes. Still an amazing ride but the story is a mess.

TomboyJanetMar 06, 2023

I think the ride is a good blend of old and new Epcot but the problem is the new is....bad.....

FigmentFan82Mar 06, 2023

Anytime I'm in Epcot I'll try and do this ride, it's great!

DonniePeverleyMar 04, 2023

LOOK, when i'm in Epcot i'll do the ride, but i really thought it was rubbish. Sorry x

Haymarket2008Feb 03, 2023

Fully agree. Honestly, the Guardians presence is shockingly.....not very abundant. This is far more of a galaxy coaster than a Guardians one. This ride would benefit from adding more planets and solar systems and less random spaceship fighting. First time riding: had no idea what was happening. Second time riding a few months later: still had no idea what has happening while ACTIVELY trying to make sense of it.

UNCgolfFeb 01, 2023

My biggest issue is that the non-IP Big Bang version would have likely been a better overall attraction. The Guardians IP is badly mishandled and almost superfluous to the ride (the two Guardians films are my favorite in the MCU and they're completely wasted on Cosmic Rewind), which has an essentially incomprehensible story (at least in terms of what happens on-ride).

PhicinfanJan 18, 2023

Rode this last week, had a blast, agree the story gets lost as you ride it, but I happened to love all the pre-show stuff. All together a real fun ride

StupidoJan 12, 2023

Yeah, I figured this was a stepping stone to get her back in the MCU for the alleged 'Nova' project, showcasing the aftermath of Thanos destroying Xandar.